4. The Research Process
Define your topic
What information do you need?
Who would have written about it? Where?
Find information
Judge it – is it reliable? relevant?
– does it point in new directions?
– is it enough? or do you still need more?
Analyse and synthesise
Cite all sources!
15. We evaluate results by...
Look at title, abstract
– does it seem relevant?
Authors – who wrote it?
Citations
16. Evaluating Resources
Is it… and...
relevant?
Who is it written for?
basic/advanced?
What kind of research is it?
up-to-date? How far along is the research?
What questions haven’t they answered yet?
accurate?
25. Using Endnote
My Grand Chemical Engineering Research Project Thing
26. We’ve learned...
Databases and how to get citation webs
That there are lots of different websites that
search from different websites, and it’s free!
Many databases where I can find what I
need and the way to get access them
Use Google Scholar to find more
How to find free journals once I have left uni
27. We’ve learned...
More efficient way of finding journal articles.
Previously I had searched Google and
individual journal websites
How to access various databases and
journals.
The layout of the library website and how
resources within UC repository can be
accessed.
The “literature” is the written conversation between scientists about what they’ve found out (by reading or experimenting).Searching the literature is all about learning who the cool people are and where they hang out.May be literal conversations; conferences; journals; standards; patents; books; encyclopaedias; websites; social media....
Research process is iterative – as you learn more, you constantly refine your strategies and even your research question.For the best research questions, the answer doesn’t exist yet! You’re looking for clues that will let you piece together the puzzle yourself.
Library website > Subject guides > a sample guide to show subject librarian (contact details and asklive) reference materials textbooks talk about papers from supervisors
Use “Refine” to get specific content types as well as narrowing the topic.Articles – mostly link directly to the article but sometimes you’ll get routed through ArticleLinkerPrint books – links to our catalogue to see call number and whether it’s in libraryE-books – either links directly to the book or via ArticleLinker
All aspects of Engineering.Has similar “Refine” column.Look for
Subject guide -> databases -> Web of Science looking up a known article title following citation trails looking at keywords keyword searching author searching finding full text button5 min free searching
Includes material from open access sources eg Canterbury IRGo into “Scholar Preferences” and * find University of Canterbury * select Endnote for export
FreeE-delivery of most journal articles; books and theses take longer
Instruction at http://wiki.canterbury.ac.nz/display/LIBRARY/EndNote